How Can I Say Goodbye?
by BullAndDragon23
Summary: Sequel to Boho Teens. Roger's dying, Mark's losing it, and the kids are just...
1. Chapter 1

Okay all you loverly people here's chapter one of my sequel! I'm not gonna narrate for awhile so you can get the feel of it. This story is gonna basically be mostly about the kids and Glory surrounded by Roger's dying. I set this up about three years ahead so Glory can have more of an impact in the story.

Ages of the kids

Ria-18

Ryan-19

Kyle-17

Rachel-16

Jason-21

Angelo-19

Glory-5 ½

(New Character): Noelle-17

The songs in this story will be a mix of RENT, Wicked, other pop hits, and my own work. Most of this will take place in Santa Fe with some references to New York. But enough with the descriptions, here's the story!

Ria Davis had just left school and was on her way to work. Ever since she moved from New York both she and her step-brother Ryan had to get part-time jobs to help their parents with the rent for their apartment. She was just getting into her costume she had to wear for the dance showcase for the tourists when her phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Ria, it's Mark I need you to pick up Glory and get home now."

"What, what's happening?"

"Look, it's your dad…. I just need you and Ryan to get here now!"

She hung up and then dialed Ryan

"Ryan, it's me. Listen your dad just called and he said to get home now!"

"Ria I just started about 20 minutes ago and they put me on another video postcard shift!"

"Look all I know is it has to be serious, he said it was about _papi_ and I had to pick up Glory….look just be ready to go when I get there!"

She changed back, explained the situation to her boss and headed over to Glory's school where she was swinging on the playground in her cute little jeans with the sparkles Ria had made for her and a Rolling Stones t-shirt. She saw her big sister and ran to her.

"Ri Ri, Krissy invited me to come over and play!" she squealed

"Maybe some other time honey, _Aba_ just called and told us we had to come home now."

"Why?"

"I dunno I think it's about _papi_ but we've gotta go get Ryan."

"But Krissy's mommy is on her way to pick us up!"

Ria groaned as she waited for Krissy's mom to show up so she could explain why Glory couldn't come over. She felt bad because she knew how hard it was for Glory to make friends due to the other kids in her kindergarten class either made fun of her or were told by their own parents to stay away from her because of how unconventional her family was but this sounded pretty serious.

Ryan got in the car and started up, "Can someone tell me what's going on?"

"Look I don't really know but if we're getting pulled out of work it's not good." Ria whispered trying not to scare Glory.

When they got home, Mark was coming out of their bedroom and sat the kids on their little couch.

"Dad what's going on? What did you pull us out of work for when you know the rent's due in a week?"

Mark stood there for a minute thinking. He looked over at Glory and sighed, "Hey Glory could you go watch Spongebob for awhile? I gotta talk with RiRi and Ryan for a little while" he said, trying to sound upbeat.

"Okay _Aba_!" Glory squeaked as she skipped into her and Ria's room.

"Mark, can you tell us what's going on?"

"Okay…I don't how to say this but…I just came back from the clinic with your dad and his t-cell count is at an all-time low. I know it's happened before but the doctors said that this time it can't rise up again and…"

"Dad this keeps happening almost every three months, they say he's dying he doesn't die…"

"I know but this time it's for real. He keeps getting all these lesions everywhere and he's getting weaker everyday. They've given him about four months left."

"Where is he?"

"He's on the bed, but I wouldn't suggest going in there now. He's been in some kind of trance since we got home and won't talk to anyone. I wanted to tell you because I have to explain some things to you. The AIDS counselor at the clinic said that he's going to go through some stages in the next few weeks. It's pretty common in terminally ill people but she suggested we know about them and what to do. He's going to go through a period of denial for a while and claim he's not dying, that the clinic got the tests mixed up. He'll also plan ahead too like he might talk about going on vacation next year or camping. The next is anger and I think that's when we need to keep Glory calm. He'll go into rage attacks and may take it out on any of us but we need to keep cool. I'll try to handle that myself since he did that during withdrawals. Eventually he'll try to bargain his way into living a little longer and may make outrageous statements like giving up music forever, then depression, and finally acceptance but that will take a long time to get to."

Ria looked at him in utter shock, "I hope you're aware that this is not going to be easy and very dangerous. Are you aware that the three of us can't take this on alone? We've got a little sister in there whose gonna have to sit here and watch her father fall apart and die and we have to tell her!"

"Ria, I know that and that's why I'm calling everyone else to come out here for the time being. I'm gonna be the main one having to deal with Roger's stages and I need more help with that. I'm also having Jason, Angelo, Kyle and Rachel come out here too to help you two with Glory. Jase is gonna help me too since he's a little older but it's very important that they all come out here to say goodbye. We've already explained to Glory why you and your dad have to take your pills but I don't know how we can explain what's gonna happen in the next couple of weeks."

"Mark, this is our senior year and with us both working and all…"

"Ria, I told you I understand that! You guys are going to need to explain this to your bosses and change your schedules. One of you needs to be here with Glory and the other can work until maybe early evening and then switch." Mark said exasperated

Ryan sat there, "Well how are we gonna do it? How the HELL are we gonna go in there and try to explain to her why she'll need to stay at friends houses sometimes or why her dad can't play her favorite song for her at bedtime? How are we gonna explain why the people she hasn't seen since Christmas all decided to come and stay with us for four months and why she can't bring her friends over? You both know how hard it was for her to even get the few she has!"

"Ryan, for the last time I know already. We knew this was going to happen and this is not the time to point fingers or panic. We've got to work together not only for Roger but for Glory. She needs to know that she doesn't have to worry." Mark said

They sat down, mentally preparing for the long road ahead.

So how's it sound? I wanted to make a close relationship between Glory and Ria since she's the main one having to take care of her. There will be more relationship dramas with the other couples also and maybe more MoJo. If anyone has any ideas on how to do the talk with Glory or Roger's stages feel free to give. See that little button down there? Yeah the review one, click it and R&R! I'll give out…hmmm chili?


	2. Here it goes part 1

Hello again! Sorry it took me all week but senior year is a bitch. Anyway thanks for the reviews and here's chapter two.

After hearing her dad's fate Ria had to decide on what to do next. She knew that they needed the money, but she was the main one helping take care of Glory and someone had to be there for her. Everyone else wasn't due to arrive until Friday evening so she had three days to plan out.

"Ryan, do you think you could get the 3-7 shift at the video place? I've gotta work the dinner show tomorrow and Gabriella is already on me for running out today."

"Ria that's the worst shift to have, all the tourists come in and complain about how they want their airbrushed video of the red mountains to look like their t-shirt picture." Ryan whined

"Look, I didn't ask you to cut your leg off I just need you to come back so you can get Glory ready for bed. I'll make her dinner and make sure she has her school stuff lined up all you have to do is put her to bed." Ria said annoyed "She'll want to watch The Buzz on Maggie at around six-thirty and then she goes to bed at 8:30. It's not rocket science and it'll save your dad some time."

"Fine" Ryan sighed "But if I get my check cut, I'm blaming you."

Ria sighed and went to go make dinner while Ryan went somewhere to shoot more footage for the video postcards.

Meanwhile, Mark was pulling out the air beds to get ready for Friday as Roger sat on the bed playing Musetta's Waltz for the hundredth time.

"I was thinking that maybe Rachel can stay in Ria and Glory's room and the boys can stay in Ryan's room but then I don't know where to put Mo, Joanne and Benny."

Roger wasn't listening but in some trance looking out into space, "Hey Mark remember Halloween?"

"What the…?"

"You know when we all went out last year…we went as the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I was Dr. Frank-N-Furter, you were Rocky Horror, Ria was Magenta, Ryan was Brad and Glory was Janet" he said laughing

"Yeah but what does that have to…"

"I was thinking, maybe we could go as them again this year."

"_This can't be happening now_" Mark thought.

"Roge you know that…"

"I'm serious, this time Ria can be Janet and…"

"Roger, they gave you only four…"

"They give me that same terminal bullshit each time and I'm still here!"

"You know this time…."

"Mark save it I'm not going to die!" he shouted heading outside.

"At the rate he's acting it's gonna be hell. How am I gonna tell Glory?" Mark wondered.

How Can I 

**Mark: I see her**

**Playing out in the sun**

**How she spins around and laughs**

**Her life's just begun**

**The rain falls**

**But she keeps on laughing**

**She doesn't hear**

**Sadness call**

**How can I **

**Tell her why**

**Why she sees us cry**

**How can I tell her **

**That her daddy's gonna die**

**She's so precious **

**I can't bear to see her cry**

**How can I tell her to say goodbye?**

A few minutes later everyone went into the kitchen for dinner. Everyone ate in silence except for Glory who was too busy telling everyone about what happened on the Fairly Oddparents.

"So then Timmy wished that everyone was the same, and then Cosmo and Wanda couldn't find him and then Cosmo blew up!" she giggled.

"That sounds like it was funny." Mark said trying to stay happy sounding

"Hey _Aba_ can you take me to the park Friday? Krissy's mommy has another art show that day and she put me and Krissy in one of her paintings."

"Friday's not a good day honey, we've gotta be home that day."

"Why what's happening?"

"You remember our friends that came here from New York last year? They're coming to stay with us for awhile."

"But why?" Glory asked puzzled since she hadn't seen them in so long.

Everyone suddenly dropped their forks and paused.

"_Here it goes"_ Ria thought.

CLIFFHANGER! HAHA! I need to plan this out so you'll have to wait for awhile. If anyone has an idea on how to do the talk I'll update faster. Did anyone like the narrations or should I cut them? Anywhoo R&R by clicking the little purple button. Come on you know you want to!


	3. Here it goes pt 2

Note: Sorry guys, I've been busy lately and haven't had much time. I'll try to keep this updated but senior year is ruthless. Oh and this song's in Spanish and all I know is that it means my pretty daughter who runs through the woods or something like that.

Everyone sat in silence for awhile before Ria spoke up. "Hey Glory, why don't you go eat your cake in the living room and I'll be there in a minute" she said.

"Okay but can I watch Lilo and Stich too?"

"Sure go ahead"

"Whee, I get cake! YAYY!" she squealed as she bounced into the living room with her cake.

They waited until she turned on the TV before talking again, "And now the fun night continues. We get to tell a five-year old her dad will slowly deteriotate and die." Ryan said sarcastically. "Well who wants to tell her?"

Everyone looked over at Ria, "What so I have to? Isn't taking her to and from school, making her clothes and feeding her enough?" she said "Well I can't do it, why don't you do it?" Ryan said looking at his dad. "Yeah you're the adult here and the actual PARENT!"

"Why don't we just play truths and have her guess it?" Roger said dryly laughing

"Roger this is a serious matter! Now someone has to do it and I think I'll go ahead and do it since no one else seems to be able to" Mark said frustrated. He waited for the next commercial to come on before heading in the living room.

"Glory, can I talk to you for a minute?" he said

"Okay _Aba_!" she squealed before turning off the TV.

"Okay…now you asked why our friends were coming back from New York. The reason is…you know that _papi_ and Ri-ri have that sickness we talked about earlier?"

"Yeah?"

"Well…you see _Papi_'s had it for a long time and after awhile it makes you REALLY sick. He's starting not to feel so good and needs to stay home but we still have to go to school and work so I asked out friends to come out and help us for awhile. They're gonna help me with _papi_ and other stuff I need to work on and the other kids will help you too since Ri-ri and Ryan'll have a lot of work to do." Mark explained

Glory sat there for awhile, "Okay _Aba!"_ she said

"Why don't you go brush your teeth and get ready for bed? Ri-ri's helping me get ready for everyone to come so _papi's_ gonna tuck you in"

Roger came in after about fifteen minutes. "Glory what did I tell you about playing your recorder?"

Glory put her head down, "I can only play after school outside and before dinner" she said sadly.

"Right now why don't you hop in bed and I'll sing you your song?"

"Oooh, the dream song?"

"You wanna hear the THAT?" Roger laughed "That's _Aba_ and Ryan's song, I always sing you "Glory"!"

"I know but I like the dream song!" Glory pouted

"How about this song Ri-ri's mommy and I would sing to her? I remember she used to love it when she was your age."

"Okay!"

He pulled out his acoustic and began playing,

Roger: A la nanita nana nanita ella nanita ella  
Mi niña tiene sueno bendito sea, bendito sea

Ria came in, "Oh I love this song!" she said as she sat by her dad and sister.

Ria: A la nanita nana nanita ella nanita ella  
Mi niña tiene sueno bendito sea, bendito sea

Both: Fuentecita que corre clara y sonora  
Ruiseñor que en la selva cantando llora  
Calla mientras la cuna se balansea  
A la nanita nana, nanita ella

Roger: A la nanita nana nanita ella nanita ella  
Mi niña tiene sueno bendito sea, bendito sea

Ria:Fuentecita que corre clara y sonora  
Ruiseñor que en la selva cantando llora

Both: Calla mientras la cuna se balansea  
A la nanita nana, nanita ella

Glory fell asleep as Roger leaned in and kissed her forehead, "Sleep tight mi hjia, _papi_ loves you more than you'll ever know" he said turning out her light.

(Sniffs) I hoped you liked that, I wanted to show some fluffiness with Roger and his two girls. Next chapter is gonna have the others coming in and that'll be a trip. I'm gonna start on the emotions soon but here's what to expect.

There will be a drug issue AGAIN

An affair with…you'll have to wait and see

A love triangle

A reunion

Another tender moment

A breakdown

Tune in next time and R&R!


	4. A new arrival

I'm back my minons…I mean readers. I've been stressed out with school and the chaos that is my life but here I am to treat you to another chappie! Oh and the song's from Wicked but I thought it was funny because my character is like Glinda.

Friday rolled around and the boheme family were due to arrive. Benny and Rachel came in around 3:30 just as Glory was coming home.

"Rachel!" Glory squealed running over to see her

"Hi honey! I see you're wearing the shirt we sent you for your birthday!"

"Yeah I love Bratz! Come in and see my room I got a whole bunch of the dolls!" Glory babbled dragging Rachel into her room.

Benny sat with Mark in the kitchen, "So Ali didn't want to come?" Mark asked

"Yeah, she really wasn't into it and pissed me off for days when I told her I was bringing Rachel. I told her I didn't care we weren't letting you all go through this alone."

"How's she gonna make up all that time off of school?"

"I went over to the school and talked to the principal, apparently they're all into the whole human dignity quality of life thing, and they said they'd work something out so she can send her work to her teachers online. It's one of the few reasons I like that snot nose Catholic school otherwise I'd pull her out."

"When's everyone else coming?"

"Well since I booked Jason and Angelo's flight, they should be here around five-thirty and Maureen, Joanne and Kyle will be here at eight. How's Roger holding up?"

"He's in a really weird trance, last night he woke up and started playing all his old songs and then he took the car out to the desert. It's like he won't accept that he's dying and it's scary. I'm glad you all came out here because I can't deal with these flip outs and try to keep the kids together. Ria's tied up with Glory and her job and trying to keep up in school, Ryan's the same way, and I can't miss anymore work but if we don't, the rent doesn't get paid…"

Benny stopped him, "I'll cover your rent while we're here but how's Glory taking this?"

"I couldn't bring myself to actually tell her, I just said that you all were coming out here because Roger's getting sicker. She'll figure it out when she hears him wailing out in pain at three in the morning. I'm trying to find a way so she doesn't have to see the worst of it."

"Mark, it's gonna be alright we knew this was gonna happen and we can get through this." Benny said putting an arm around his friends shoulder.

Later that day Jason came with Angelo in tow and they all began setting up their places in the kids room. Mark and Benny got some air mattresses for the other parents to sleep on and got some extra food. Around eight, the Johnson-Jeffersons came in with a big surprise.

"Guys I know this wasn't the most appropriate time but I'd like you meet my new girlfriend Noelle. I told her all about us and she really wanted to help out." Kyle said.

Everyone sat there stunned as this petite blonde girl sat down, "Does Kyle know that Rachel's here?" Jason whispered.

Kyle looked over to see Rachel walk in and see Noelle sitting next to Kyle after hearing everything.

"Kyle how could you do this to me?"

"Rach, we didn't talk for months after everyone moved out and…"

"So you get…that?"

Noelle stood up, trying to be friendly "Hi I'm Noelle and you must be Rachel."

"Don't talk to me Barbie, what the fuck do you think you're doing here?"

Ria sat there dumbfounded, "I guess this is the wrong time to mention that Noelle's in the girls room with us?"

Rachel let out an angry squeal and ran into the next room.

After everyone had settled in and had eaten it was time to turn in. Rachel was on her laptop and Noelle was on hers.

Noelle: Dearest darlingest Momsie and Popsical:

Rachel :My dear Mother

BOTH There's been some confusion  
Over rooming here out West  
Rachel: But of course, we'll care for Roger

Noelle: But of course, I'll rise above it

BOTH  
For I know that's how you'd want me to respond  
Yes, there's been some confusion  
For you see, my roommate is  
Noelle: Unusually and exceedingly peculiar  
And altogether quite impossible to describe:

Rachel  
Blonde.

Noelle: What is this feeling?  
So sudden and new?

Rachel:I felt it the moment  
I laid eyes on you:Noelle: My pulse is rushing:  
Rachel: My head is reeling:  
Noelle: My face is flushing:

BOTH  
What is this feeling?  
Fervid as a flame,  
Does it have a name?  
Yes:Loathing  
Unadulterated loathing  
Noelle: For your face  
Rachel:Your voice

Noelle: Your clothing

BOTHL et's just say - I loathe it all  
Ev'ry little trait, however small  
Makes my very flesh begin to crawl  
With simple utter loathing  
There's a strange exhilaration  
In such total detestation  
It's so pure and strong!  
Though I do admit it came on fast  
Still I do believe that it can last  
And I will be loathing  
Loathing you  
My whole life long!

Just then Ria and the other kids except for Kyle came in to check on Rachel  
Geez Rachel , you are just too good  
How do you stand it? I don't think I could!  
She's a terror! She's a Tartar!  
We don't mean to show a bias,  
But Rachel you're a martyr!

Rachel: Well these things are sent to try us!Kids: Poor little Rachel forced to reside  
With someone so disgusticified  
We all just want to tell you:  
We're all on your side!  
We share your:

Both: What is this feeling Kids:Loathing  
So sudden and new? Unadulterated loathing  
I felt the moment For her face, her voice  
I laid eyes on you Her clothing  
My pulse is rushing Let's just say:  
My head is reeling We loathe it all!  
Oh, what is this feeling? Ev'ry little trait  
Does it have a name? Makes our very flesh  
Yes: Begin to crawl:.  
Ahhh: Ahhh:

ALL  
Loathing!

All: There's a strange exhilaration Loathing  
In such total detestation Loathing  
So pure, so strong Loathing

Kids: So strong!

Rachel and Noelle  
Though I do admit it came on fast  
Still I do believe that it can last ALL  
And I will be loathing Loathing  
For forever loathing Loathing  
Truly deeply loathing Loathing you  
My whole Loathing  
Life long!

Rachel got into her sleeping bag and cut out the light, "What a bitch" she thought.

Hope you liked it! I'm making some more drama to add on with the kids. Tune in next time and R&R!


	5. Heading the wrong way

Okay guys, I've decided not to use anymore Wicked show tunes. Most of them don't work and I'm getting bored. Maybe I'll write another song like the one in chapter 2. But for now I'm gonna try to spice this up a little bit.

A few days went by and things were going well. Noelle tried to stay out of Rachel's way while Ria tried to deal with the animosity in her room. Mark was on his way to work and took Glory before getting there.

"Hey Aba, can Krissy come over after school today? I want to show her my new Bratz dolls."

Mark got nervous for a minute, "I…I don't think that's a good idea Glory at least not now."

Glory got a little mad, "Aba, why can't I have any fun? Everytime I want to go play with Krissy I can't because I have to stay home or something. Why can't Krissy come over or I can't go over her house?"

Mark pulled over and sat there for awhile, "Glory…you know what's going on but…some people don't understand it. Your dad's getting really sick and it'll get harder to deal with soon. I'm trying to make sure you, your sister and brother are okay and it's going to get harder. I know that people make fun of you at school so that's why I'm saying Krissy can't come over right now. I know she's your friend but she might tell the other kids what's happening and then they'll be meaner to you. I don't want that to happen to you again."

Glory sat there glaring at her father, "Please Glory just try to understand." Mark pleaded.

She got out of the car and ran down the street, "Glory come on just get back in the car…"

"I HATE YOU!" Glory screamed with tears rolling down her cheeks.

Mark started the car and followed her, trying to get her to listen but she kept running until she got to school. He didn't have time to try and talk again so he just waited for her to get in the door and headed to work.

Meanwhile back at the high school Ryan was just heading out of his Media Immerison class. He was having the worst week ever after getting fired from his job and didn't know how he was gonna tell his dad. Just as he was putting his camera away, his friend Ty came over to his locker.

"Hey man how you holdin up?"

"I can't keep lying to my dad anymore. He's gonna suspect something soon if he tries to call me at work and I'm not there!" Ryan said exasperated

"You know…there is a way to make some fast cash." Ty whispered slyly.

"How?"

"Follow me" Ty said leading him to the boys room, the one that had been out of order. He went over to the radiator and pulled out a little bag of pills, "Is that…?" Ryan gasped

"Oxycotin? You bet the real stuff man. I know people who would sell their souls for one hit. Just one pill sells for one hundred bucks."

"Dude, I can't do this, they'd kill me!"

"Look man, you said yourself you guys needed the money. Now you can get another dead end job catering to those jerk tourists….or make a quick three hundred just tonight."

"I told you what drugs did to my family before…"

"And do they need to know? Come on you said it before, Ria's dad is getting worse, you just got fired, and soon you all are gonna fall flat on your asses."

Ryan stood there with the bag in his hand plotting his next move.

Back home, Roger was in bed asleep. Benny, and Joanne were in the kitchen going over some housing laws when the phone rang. Benny went over to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hello are the parents of Glory Cohen-Davis there?"

"Well…no they're not available now but I'm living here for awhile can I ask who's calling?

"This is Mrs. Pascal from Kokopeli Elementary, I'm calling because I need to speak to whoever is caring for her because we have a problem regarding Glory. I couldn't reach her father at work and it's pretty urgent…"

"Well her family has their…extended family here for a few months could one of us come down there?"

"Well as a rule we wouldn't allow this but since it's urgent I guess we have no other choice."

"Okay one of us will be there soon." Benny said before hanging up

"Benny what's going on?" Maureen asked

"That was Glory's school one of us needs to go down there now. They couldn't get a hold of Mark and it sounds serious."

"I'll go, you two stay with Roger in case he wakes up." Joanne said "Who do I go see when I get there?"

"The lady one the phone said her name was Mrs. Pascal I'm guessing it's the principal?" Benny replied.

"Try to call Mark again and tell him to meet me there. I'll call later" she said grabbing her purse and cell phone. When she arrived at the school she was directed to the main office met by Mrs. Pascal.

"Hi I'm here for Glory Cohen-Davis?"

"Hi, I'm Mrs. Pascal, assistant principal." Mrs. Pascal said extending her hand "Are you her parent?"

"Well…no I'm more of an aunt to her but I've called her father he should be here soon. Can you tell me what's going on?"

Just then the school nurse helped Glory into the office. She had a lot of cuts and scrapes and her nose was bleeding.

"Glory sweetie what happened?" Joanne asked in shock but Glory couldn't stop crying. Mrs. Pascal led them both into her office, "Apparently, some first and second-graders were victimizing Glory and she tried to get them to leave her alone but they wouldn't listen."

"Why were they picking on her?"

"She was telling her friend that she couldn't play after school because her father was sick and apparently the other kids overheard. I'm quite aware that the kids know about her family structure and many of the parents are disapproving. I would suggest that Glory go home for the rest of the day since this has been very stressful on everyone."

Joanne sighed, "I'll call her dad and explain what happened, is it okay if I sign her out?"

"Sure go ahead, here's my number in case he has any questions." Mrs. Pascal said handing her card to Joanne.

When they got home, Roger was up and at the kitchen table drinking some tea. He saw Glory walk in the door and was in shock. "Glory what happened?" he said as his daughter sat down on the couch. She glared at him, "It's all YOUR fault!" she cried "If YOU didn't get sick my friends could come over and I wouldn't get picked on as much!"

Roger tried to talk with her but she ran in her room before he could say a word.

"Well what are we gonna do now?" everyone wondered. This was getting way over everyone's heads.

Okay…this is a new twist. I was gonna stretch out the whole Rachel/Noelle issue but I need something with Glory. Ryan's drug issue is going to be addressed later. Oh and for that one reader I did write that song in chapter two sorry I forgot to mention that. R&R!


	6. Falling

Back again from a long hiatus! (blame it on writers block/SATs and an all school protest) I have some new ideas that I want to try out so here's chapter six!

Roger and the others stood outside the girls' room, "Glory come on what happened today?" he asked

"Go AWAY! Everyone wants me to be weird! All the kids laugh at me and push me in the dirt! Why can't I be normal with a mommy and a daddy like Krissy and the other kids?" she said crying. Everyone stood outside contemplating what to do or say when Mark came in from work. "The school called me and said that Jo picked up Glory, what happened today?" he asked nervously

"Glory got beat up by some of the older kids at school today, she was trying to tell her friend why she couldn't come over and they overheard." Jo explained

"The thing I want to know is why did she blame me?" Roger asked "She said if I wasn't sick she wouldn't have this problem. Where would she get an idea like that?"

Mark put his head down; "I think she may have misunderstood me earlier. I told her that due to the circumstances, she really couldn't have anyone over and she got mad."

Roger looked at him in shock, "How could you say that to her? Are you just trying to make this worse?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been doing this since I had that last bad spell last year. You tell Ria she has to quit the dance team and Ryan to quit the junior broadcasters because they "had to help out" and get jobs so we didn't get behind in the bills. Then you tell Ria that she's gonna have to take on some more responsibilities with Glory, and now you tell Glory she can't have any friends? Are you TRYING to get our kids against me? I get sick and suddenly your whole lives have to stop?"

"Well it's not MY fault the doctor told you that you had to stay home after that spell. Come on man you KNOW you couldn't have kept it up after you collapsed at that gig! I couldn't keep us afloat alone! Why can't you swallow this damn pride and accept the fact that you're gonna die this time?" Mark bellowed

Roger couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Are you saying that I'm weak? I'M the one with the BALLS here! You let the kids walk all over you! Ryan's pissed off you lose sleep until he talks again, Ria…I'm starting to wonder who's daughter she really is because you two are always plotting against me for SOMETHING and Glory…. don't get me started. Now you're gonna tell me that I have to lose my dignity and let everyone take care of me like a baby?"

Mark gave him a death glare, "I'm not gonna stand here and take this. If you want to be so ungrateful for everything I've sacrificed fine but don't expect me to stay here," he said grabbing his keys and heading out the door.

Meanwhile Ryan was still at the school with the pills in his hand.

"So how does this work?"

"Okay, I got some clients lined up for ya, just meet them at the _Fiesta room_ at 9 tonight. I'm serious Ry you can make 500 bucks just this once, think about what you can do in a week?" Ty said

"Nine o'clock? But Ria's gonna be there, she has the dinner show shift. If she catches me…"

"She won't…trust me, she'll be too busy shaking her hips that don't lie" he said with a snicker. Ryan glared at him; even though he and Ria had broken up he couldn't help but get jealous.

"Okay let's do it"

Later that night, Ria was at the end of her set at the _Fiesta Room_. It took her two days to learn the new routine and she couldn't mess up again.

"…. Thereover, hereunder you've got me head over heels there's nothing left to fear

If you really feel the way I feel…." She sang as the dancers finished, "Thank you _Fiesta Room_! Goodnight everyone!" She went backstage to change out her dancewear and back into her uniform.

Ryan was at the bar waiting for his client to show up, "I hope Ty knows what he's doing" he thought as he saw a guy in his early 20s sidle up to the bar.

"You the guy?" he asked

"Yeah"

"You got the pills?"

"Right here, you got the money?"

The guy slipped him a handful of bills as Ryan slipped him the pills. Little did he know that Ria had just saw the whole thing as she was getting her tips out of the jar.

"Ryan…do you want to tell me what the fuck is going on here?" she said angrily

The guy took off, leaving Ryan with a handful of bills and no explanation.

DUN DUN DUN! What'll happen next? Who knows? Tune in next time! R&R!


	7. Pain for Power

Wow, a quick update! That's right, I have a day off tomorrow and I thought what would I rather do, mind boggling algebra, chemistry, or greet my readers with a new chappie? Survey says….update! I said I wasn't gonna use Wicked anymore but I've decided to use "Defying Gravity" as a basis for the conversation between Ryan and Ria.

Ria dragged Ryan from the bar and into the alley outside the kitchen. "What the hell was that?" she screeched

"Ria, don't start okay? If you knew I got fired you'd be prancing around with your whole "I told you so" dance. So just stay off my back!"

"Why did you get fired? You were the best cameraman they had!"

Ryan looked down, "They caught me taking a few fifties from the register. But I had too! My check got cut from missing two days already and…"

"Well if you got fired you should've oh I don't know…LOOKED FOR ANOTHER JOB? Why couldn't you have just stayed sane for once instead of losing your mind? I just hope you're happy, because if Gabriella saw that I'll lose my job too. You'd never do this before so why are you doing this now?" Ria argued

"Well unlike you, I have a SPINE and I won't grovel in submission so I can get ahead! You're just like my dad was, a total wuss!" Ryan screamed as he started to walk back on the streets.

Ria jumped in front of him before he could leave, "Ry wait a minute okay? Maybe you could try to get your job back…just apologize. Your dream was to follow in your dad's footsteps and become a filmmaker and you've worked so hard on it. It's not too late, you can still get your job back" she tried to reason.

"I know, but I don't….no can't want it anymore. Ria, something just happened to me when I saw how much I could make by selling these pills. I just realized that I don't care about playing by these stupid rules anymore. It's too late for me to go back to being the old Ryan who'd let you get away with talking smack about his family, the one who'd deal with the inane tourists who acted like they owned him. I have to do this; I have to take this chance. If I keep selling these hits at the rate I'm going, we'll be set!"

Ria groaned, "Ryan, can't you see you're being irrational?"

"Ria I'm TIRED of accepting our fate as losers! We were pushed around our entire lives back in New York in school, at home, and in general. Maybe we can't change the fact that your dad's dying, my dad's trying to keep us afloat, and our little sister still needs to be taken care of but until we try we won't know! All my life I've played it safe, never snuck out of the house, never lied, cheated, stole. If that's what it takes to be okay in life then I don't want to be right!" he bellowed. Just then, he thought of another idea "Ria, why don't you help me? Think about how much we could make selling TWICE as much? We'd have enough money so my dad doesn't have to work that dead-end job teaching film to middle-schoolers anymore, Glory wouldn't have to wear hand-made clothes anymore. Think about it!

Ria stood there silently. She knew that Ryan had a point but this was exactly how her parents ended up they way they did.

"Well, what do you think? Will you help me?" Ryan asked

"Ry, you're sweating let me wipe your face" she said taking out a tissue "I just hope you'll be happy with whatever you want to do."

"I hope you're satisfied with your job, maybe you WILL get somewhere with it." Ryan replied. Just then, they heard sirens in the background.

"OH SHIT! Gabi did see the whole thing! I'm DEAD!" Ria screamed

The cars stopped, as cops jumped out and raced into the alley, "POLICE WE'VE GOT YOU SURROUNDED! PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!"

They raced towards Ria but Ryan backed up, "It's not her you want. She didn't do anything wrong, IT'S ME!" He looked over the chain fence and frantically climbed over it yelling, "YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!"

Ria saw him running off into the night, "_This is NOT good_," she thought as the cops released her. She went back inside to explain to her boss what had happened while trying to figure out a way to tell the others at home.

Meanwhile the other parents were back at home, "Now what are we going to do? We've gotta get Mark back here, he's the only one who can really deal with Roger and the kids." Maureen cried

"Well, we can't just go after him. Glory's in pain, and I haven't heard her crying anymore. I'm really worried about her she won't even answer me back." Joanne said

"Guys, Mark couldn't have gone that far why don't Mo and I go look for him and the rest of you stay here? When Ryan and Ria come home, tell them what happened and try to keep them calm." Benny said "Try to get Roger to calm down, and get Rachel or Noelle to check on Glory. Jason and Angelo can pick up dinner and Roger's meds, we should be back soon." He and Maureen got their jackets and headed out the door.

Rachel went in the girls' room to see if Glory might like some kung pao chicken for dinner. The others heard a scream and raced inside, "Rachel what's wrong?" Kyle said

"She…she's…."

Noelle picked up a letter written in crayon "_Dear Ri-ri, Aba and Papi don't love me anymore so I rwuned away 'rom home. I tooked Punji Bear with me so I could have a friend. Love Glory."_

CLIFFY! Well more of a case of writers block. I have an idea for Mark with the affair storyline but need to write it out somewhere. There's a reason I had Glory running out and we'll get to that later in Ryan's drug storyline. Before I leave, I know that someone drew a picture for a story on here and I was wondering if anyone could draw a picture for mine. It'll just be one of Ria, Ryan, Glory, and the dads, that would be great. If you can just PM it because my email sometimes is a bitch. R&R!


	8. Something Bad pt 1

Yayy hurray, my exams are done! 3 days of no homework and time to update! I've been working on my Halloween costume (I'm Mimi) and just got the shoes I needed. ANYWAYS here's chapter eight!

Rachel, Noelle and the kids shut the door before anyone else could find out. "Okay first we need to figure out where she went." Rachel started "If we can figure out some places she might have gone to, there's a chance we could find her before the parents find out."

"Well how are we gonna find her?" Jason asked

"Maybe she went to go find Ria, you know they're like glue."

"She's still at work, so let's try to go there first." Angelo suggested as they all snuck out the window and down the street.

Meanwhile, Benny and Maureen were driving around town looking for Mark.

"Where do you think he could have gone?"

"You know Mark, he's probably somewhere sulking in some café or whatever." Maureen said rolling her eyes

"This isn't like him though" Benny said "Mark shouldn't be running out on them like this. Those kids need him to stay stable, God knows Roger isn't, he keeps playing his guitar and yelling at everyone for no reason. When this virus starts taking hold for real, it's gonna get really bad."

They went searching at every café, bar, and any other place Mark would hang out until the car came to a halting screech.

Benny tried to start the car up again, but with no luck. "I think we're either out of gas, or the transmission dropped. We're gonna need to call triple A."

Benny pulled out his cell phone only to see that his battery went dead. "Shit, it looks like were stuck here for awhile. Maybe that motel has a phone we could use" he said as they started the trek down the road and to the motel.

When they got there Benny went into the office to use the phone while Maureen waited outside. Just then she saw Mark come out of a room in what looked like a pair of boxers and a t-shirt smoking a cigarette.

She walked up to him, "Mark where the hell have you been? We've been looking for you for like 6 hours!"

Mark looked at her rolling his eyes, "So I take off for awhile big deal?"

"Come on, let's just get back home and we can all talk about this."

"What's to talk about? I'm just the big pushover who sacrificed so much for my family only to get yelled at and called out" he mumbled. For some reason Maureen noticed that he sounded like he had been drinking and signaled Benny to come over.

"Mark, whatever this is about running away isn't gonna solve anything so let's just try to talk about what's going on here." Benny called out

They both followed Mark into the room he had come out of and sat on the bed, "Mark we really think you should come home, I can't put my finger on it but I think something's up with Glory. I think she might have gotten more than beaten up at school because she was really upset. She kept saying that she wishes she could be normal and I think it's not just the older kids that are messing with her." Maureen said. Right then she heard something coming from the bathroom. It sounded like someone was in there, "Mark what was that?" Benny asked.

"What?"

"I heard something in the bathroom, is someone in there?"

"No…it's nothing I swear…."

Benny went to the bathroom door and opened it to find ……

Sorry guys, I just need to work some more. I wanted to update this for awhile until I could think some more. Say to my regulars (you know who you are lol) do any of you have any ideas on what I could do for the kids and Glory? And if I get 3 reviews I'll update soon.


	9. Something Bad pt 2

Okay here's chapter nine! I promise I'll make this longer k? Oh and this story may be on hiatus because I don't know where to go with it anymore but I don't know yet.

Benny went to open the door to find a half naked woman hiding in the shower. "Mark what the fuck is going on here?" he yelled back into the bedroom as Maureen came in to see what was going on.

"Do I still get paid?" she called out to Mark

Mark followed them in, "Guys I swear she means nothing to me!" he said as he went to go get his cash.

Maureen glared at him, "FINE! Then we'll throw her out!" she yelled as she grabbed the hooker out of the shower and out the door. When she came back, Mark was trying to get dressed when she and Benny threw him to the floor.

"Mark what the hell is wrong with you? Roger's dying and you ditch him and your kids to come here and do God knows what? We don't even know who you are anymore, you storm out of your house and disappear, you start domineering your kids around? This isn't like you at all." Benny protested.

"I'm getting reprimanded by the biggest cheaters I've ever known?" Mark said "You guys don't know anything! For the last year, I've had to keep us all afloat by myself since Roger got sick. I don't know what to do anymore, when he's gone…"

"Mark, it doesn't have to be that way." Maureen tried to reason "Ryan and Ria aren't going anywhere, they said they would go to the community college so they can still be close to home and work. But you've got to come otherwise…I don't even want to think what's gonna happen soon."

Benny spoke up, "She's right Mark, you can't leave now. Now our car broke down so I'm waiting for triple A to come and tow it back. I really think we should all go back home because we left the kids and Jo with Roge and that can't be good" he said laughing.

Meanwhile the kids went searching for Glory by way of Ria. When they got to the Fiesta Room, they found Ria walking out the door. "Ria what happened?" Rachel asked

"I got fired thanks to Ryan. He started pushing drugs, had a deal going on, I saw it and so did my boss. She wouldn't listen and fired me since she saw me with him. Now we're both knee deep in shit since we're both out of work. What are you doing here?" she asked

"Ria, Glory ran away, she heard your dad and Mark fighting over something that happened to her at school, I think she got beat up and thought they were fighting about her." Jason explained

Ria sat there for a minute, "First Ryan loses his mind and runs from the cops, my dad's dying and my little sister ran away?"

"We gotta go find her fast, no one knows we're gone." Angelo said

Meanwhile, Ryan was in an alleyway waiting for his next deal, "Come on where is he?" he thought. Just then his first client from the bar jumped out of nowhere.

"Hey, poindexter! Where do you get off on ripping me off? I gave you two hundred bucks and you only gave me 3 hits!" he said throwing Ryan up against the wall.

"Look man, I got these from Ty so you're gonna have to…"

"I want my other two hits or I'm breaking some necks!"

"Look I only got one more…"

Ryan couldn't finish the sentence before the guy starting waling on him before snatching the other bag, "You pull another one like that on me…and the next time you're gonna get worse" the guy snarled skulking out into the night.

Ryan tried to get back up, but kept falling over. His vision started to blur and his legs gave out before blacking out.

Okay that should hold you for the weekend R&R and check out my new story "The Phantom of Alphabet City"!


	10. What did I do to deserve this?

I'm back! Senior year is a bitch! I'm trying to think of some more to do with this but I'm stuck.

Ria and the kids searched for hours. It was almost ten and they still couldn't find Glory, "What are we gonna tell my dad? "Hey papi I got fired for "smuggling" Ryan's drugs, he's running from the cops and we lost your youngest child"?" Ria said

"All we know is that she might have run to a friend's house" Jason said "Maybe we should try to find Krissy's house."

"I have her address from when Glory went to her birthday party, maybe we can go there." Ria said as they headed over to the Santos' house.

Mrs. Santos answered the door, "Maria, honey what are you doing here?"

"Hi Mrs. Santos, I came over because Glory ran away from home, there was a fight between our parents and she misunderstood what happened. Has she been over here?"

"Well, I found her walking down the street and brought her here, I was going to call you but she fell asleep in Krissy's room. You can go see her if you like." Mrs. Santos said concerned.

Ria told the others to wait in the living room while she went upstairs. Glory was asleep on the floor with Krissy dressed up as Snow White and Tinkerbell. "Glory, sweetie wake up." Ria whispered

"Ri-ri, what are you doing here?"

"I should ask you the same thing. Glory why did you run away?"

Glory told Ria what had happened and why she ran away. Ria put her arm around her sister, "Glory they weren't fighting about you, they're just worried. Aba doesn't know what to do right now and he's angry…but NOT at you!" Ria said "Come on we've gotta go home, I bet they're worried about us."

Just then, Ria got a call from Joanne on her cell, "What is it?" she said

"Ria, I think you need to get home now…Glory's missing, the kids are too and your dad's having a meltdown. I came in and he was throwing up and saying that he felt like he was on fire" she said "I don't know what's going on but I don't know where Mark or Ryan went."

"What do you mean Mark's not there?"

"He and your dad got into a fight and stormed out, I haven't heard from him since."

"Okay I'm on my way, we found Glory" Ria said as she hung up. She got up, and headed downstairs. "Guys we've gotta head home, my dad's getting worse."

They headed out with Glory in tow, and headed back home.

Meanwhile Mark, Benny, and Maureen were heading home in Mark's car following the tow truck, "Well what should I do now?" Mark asked

"I don't think we need to mention your little "meeting" you had but you've gotta get home and make things right." Benny said "Maybe you should talk to the kids and try to work something out where they don't have to feel so oppressed."

Mark laid back in the backseat, pondering what to do with what's become of his family.

Okay, there you go! I'll be back soon R&R!


	11. Facing the Truth

Here I am! I made zwinkys for my characters if anyone's interested PM me and I'll show them to you. Glory's so cute! Okay here we go. And "No Good Deed" is used in here but since I couldn't find Hebrew words, we're just going to go with the first lines as Mark praying and reflecting on how he's caused all this damage to his family.

When Ria and the kids got home, Rachel took Glory into their room while Ria went to check on her ailing father. "How long has he been this way?" she asked Joanne

"About an hour, I came in to check on him and he had his head down in the wastebasket throwing up. He kept saying that he felt like he was on fire inside" she said.

"Can you go get Jason in here? I'm gonna need him to help me clean up and keep Glory out of here until I'm done." She went into Mark and Roger's room to find her dad hunched over the side of the bed. "_Dios Mio_ Papi, are you ok?" she asked heading over to his side.

Roger whispered, "I think so, I don't know what happened I just drank some tea and can't seem to keep it down."

"Do you need some ice?"

"Yeah my throat's raw now."

"Papi…why won't you go to the hospital? I don't think you realize that this is hard to deal with at home…"

"Ria, I told you I won't go in there and waste away like your mom and Angel did. I don't want you, your sister and Ryan to see me looking like a corpse. I just want to take whatever time I have and stay here with you all."

"Okay…if you say so. I'm gonna clean this up is there anything you want to get you?"

"Just my Fender, I want to play my old songs."

Ria went and got her dad's Fender before calling Jason in to help clean up. Roger sat up and looked out the window, softly strumming Musetta's waltz.

Meanwhile Mark, Maureen and Benny were almost home when Mark's cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hello…is this Mr. Cohen?"

"Yes…who's calling?"

"This is Doctor Martin from Santa Maria hospital…I'm calling because your son Ryan was brought in here this evening. He's unconscious and we think that he's suffered a concussion and a broken leg. We're going to need you to come in as soon as possible."

Mark thanked her and hung up, "Guys we've gotta head to the hospital, Ryan's there and it sounds like he got beaten up" he said. When they got there, they headed to Ryan's room where he was surrounded by monitors and tubes.

"The doctors say he's stable but he just hasn't come to yet." Benny told Mark. "He took quite a beating, I wonder why?"

Mark left the room and went for a walk around the hospital atrium, thinking of what had happened because of him.

_Mark( praying): Eleka nahmen nahmen  
Ah tum ah tum eleka nahmen  
Eleka nahmen nahmen  
Ah tum ah tum eleka nahmen_

_Let his flesh not be torn  
Let his blood leave no stain  
Though they beat him  
Let him feel no pain  
Let his bones never break  
And however they try  
To destroy him  
Let him never die:  
Let him never die:_

_Eleka nahmen nahmen  
Ah tum ah tum eleka nahmen  
Eleka nahmen nahmen  
Ah tum ah tum eleka: eleka:_

_What good is this praying?  
I don't even know what I'm saying  
I don't even know what I ought to think  
Ryan, how are you?  
Already dead, or bleeding?  
One more disaster I can add to my  
Generous supply?_

_Unlimited  
The damage is unlimited  
To everyone I've tried to help  
Or tried to love  
And, oh, Ryan, you're the latest  
Victim of my greatest achievement  
In a long career of distress  
Every time I could, I tried making good  
And what I made was a mess!_

_No good deed goes unpunished  
No act of charity goes unresented  
No good deed goes unpunished  
That's my new creed  
My road of good intentions  
Led where such roads always lead  
No good deed  
Goes unpunished!_

_Glory  
Ria  
Ryan_

_RYAN!!_

_One question haunts and hurts  
Too much, too much to mention:  
Was I really seeking good  
Or just seeking attention?  
Is that all good deeds are  
When looked at with an ice-cold eye?  
If that's all good deeds are  
Maybe that's the reason why_

_No good deed goes unpunished  
All helpful urges should be circumvented  
No good deed goes unpunished  
Sure, I meant well -  
Well, look at what well-meant did:  
All right, enough - so be it  
So be it, then:  
Let all of them be agreed  
I was an ass through and through  
Since I can not succeed  
My family saving you  
I promise no good deed  
Will I attempt to do again  
Ever again  
No good deed  
Will I do again!_

"_I'm not doing this anymore, I won't keep doing this to them" _he thought. When he got home, he would tell them his new plan for the next four months.

Okay the next chapter will be longer but you'll have to wait awhile. I'm thinking of more songs to use and I'm thinking of using "For Good" for when Roger finally dies but I don't know who's gonna sing it. But in the meantime R&R!


	12. New twists and turns

Sorry for leaving you all but I had a lot of college apps and exams. Anyway here ya go! And for those who didn't know already _Aba _ is Hebrew for father and _papi_ is Spanish for daddy…I think, correct me if I'm wrong.

Ryan regained conciousness about an hour later. He told Mark everything from getting fired from his job, to dealing drugs, to getting beaten up over a few pills.

" Ryan why did you do it?" Mark asked

"I didn't want you to get mad at me for losing my job, I know you were gonna complain about me not pulling my weight and all…."

Mark sighed, he knew his son had a point, "Look I know I've been a bastard recently but it's only because I don't know what do to. You and Ria are going to college, Glory needs glasses, and I can't do it alone."

"Well, we didn't mind helping but all you did was pull us out of our clubs and drag us to get jobs. Why don't you let Glory's friends over? She really should be hanging out with other kids and she seems to really be happy with them. Krissy's mom and dad know all about us, we met them when we first got here and so do Ellie's parents. I just don't think she needs to be head on when this gets worse." Ryan said

"You're right, and I want to talk more about this when we get home. The doctors say you should be able to go home soon, there wasn't any major damage and they'll put your leg in a cast." Mark added

A few hours later they headed out of the ER and back home. Ria had cleaned up and made dinner for the kids. When Ryan and Mark came home, everyone was surprised to see Ryan on crutches.

"What happened to you?"

"It's a long story, I'll explain later" Ryan sighed as he hobbled over to the couch. Roger had felt a little better and was watching "Behind the Music" while Noelle was occupied with watching Kyle and Rachel play with Glory. Mark came into the living room and sat down, much to Roger's dismay.

"Took you long enough to get home"

"I'm surprised you noticed…with that thick head of yours." Mark sneered

"Well sorry I'm taking so long to croak! But I guess you'll be next along with the kids working to death since I'm such a burden!"

"What the…? Ever since last year, this is all you do! All you do is sit around the house all day, playing your guitar and WHINE!" Mark went on as this fight got louder. Just then, Glory ran into her room and slammed the door.

Ria sighed, "NOW look what you did!" she said walking into the kitchen with Rachel and Kyle. "I already brought her home, you deal with this now"

Mark and Roger went into Glory's room and found her in her closet, holding her teddy bear crying.

"Glory what's wrong?" Mark asked full of concern, for the first time over his youngest child since Roger and Ria were closer to her.

"Y-you k-keep fighting…a-and it-it's my f-f-ault!"

"What? Why would be fighting about you?"

"I-I heard you and p-papi fighting a-about me b-because I t-told Krissy she couldn't come over because papi was sick."

Mark's heart sank. He now realized that this controlling behavior he forced onto his kids was destroying them. His son could have been killed because he felt like he had to support them, his step-daughter practially became a mother at eighteen while dealing with her own health issues, and now his daughter was terrified in her own house. Roger gave him a look as if to say "See what your dumbass caused?"

Mark sat in the tight little closet with Glory, "Look I know I shouldn't have gone crazy and made you kids spoil your fun. I'm just a little worried about some things. But I'll try to do better. I just don't know about your friends coming over because the other parents have been really rude to us."

"That's only because they heard it from Mrs. Thomas."

Roger looked up at that statement, "Who's she?" he asked

"Another kindergarten teacher at school, I heard she used to teach at Ri-ri and Ryan's school back in New York."

"What did she say to the other parents?"

"She told them not to let their kids play with me because I was bad and came from a dirty family."

Roger was now furious, "What else did she say?"

Glory sniffled a little, "She told the other parents that I didn't know right from wrong since I didn't have a mommy, a sister who was a slut…I don't know what that means but it sounded bad, and that she knew what Ri-ri and Ryan did."

Roger and Mark were a little nervous. They knew that Glory understood that their family was unorthodox but they never thought that they would have to explain why.

I thought of this a few nights ago and thought about adding it in. Even though it would be very unlikely that someone they knew would live in the area again, I thought it would give the story more edge. I might rewrite some of this because I'm running out of ideas. R&R! I should be updating soon.


	13. The book that holds the truth

Once again…. I apologize for leaving you again. Blame college prep and debate with an asinine friend. Here we go!

Glory looked up at her dad, "What did they do?" she asked

Mark stuttered for a while, "Well…you see…remember when we told you that we were different than your friends families…" before Roger pulled him out into the hall.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"What?"

"You really want to sit and tell a five-year old child our story?"

"She already knows the kids had mothers and you and Ria are sick, so what's the big deal?"

This fight continued until Ryan began to hobble over into his room and heard them, "What's wrong _now?_" he asked sarcastically

Roger turned around and began his rant, "Your dumbass of a dad here wants to tell your sister exactly why we're "so different"

Ryan looked at them in shock, "Are you serious? You fucked Ria and me up enough and we're teenagers! It wasn't bad enough that you two woke up one morning and decided to be gay for each other, push us altogether, and drive us cross-country but now you want to make her plain out hate us? She's gonna be scared for life when she hears that her brother was in love with her sister and that they're the spawn of a bunch of former drug induced morons who now contradict themselves on a daily basis!"

Ria came in just as Ryan was shouting, "Ryan what are you bitching about now?"

"Hey Ria, you're just in time. Our dads are about to corrupt another kid by telling her our back story!"

Ria looked at her father in shock, "_Papi, _I thought we took care of this?"

"What do you mean?" Mark asked

"You didn't tell them?"

"Tell us what?"

Ria went into the trunk they brought with them from New York and pulled out a very worn out scrapbook. Inside were countless pictures of themselves from the time the kids were little all the way to before they left. There were also little letters in both Roger and Ria's handwriting. One page was decked out with Ria's songs she had written, another with scraps of film from Mark's camera. There was even an entire section dedicated to the memory of Mimi, Angel, and Collins with pictures and anecdotes about them.

Ryan and Mark scanned through this work of art with awe, "When did you guys make this?"

"We started it when I got sick the first time we got here. I thought I was about to go so Ria and I sat here and wondered how Glory would ever know who we really were considering that Ria would be next. I wanted her to know exactly who her dads, siblings, and the rest of her family were but we could never seem to bring ourselves to tell her face to face." Roger explained

"So are we gonna give it to her now?"

"No we made it clear that she won't see this until she is thirteen. I don't want her to think less of me now."

The hallway was now filled with an awkward silence. The four of them took the book into the kitchen where the others were and showed them their written saga, which had taken three years to piece together. For the first time, our boheme family felt connected once again.

This is simply a filler chapter until I can write some new material. I'm thinking of moving the time ahead so we can get closer to Roger's deterioration. I have a lot of material that I want to write in so I'll be back when that's ready. R&R!


	14. The feud

Back again! Happy St Patrick's Day! (drinks green beer lol) I've got some material to use, hope you like!

Ryan sat in the kitchen with Ria later that night once everyone had gone to bed. He was still in shock over how their book was so beautifully pieced together, "Hey Ria, isn't that glass from your window?" he asked

"Yeah it's from when I broke it when your dad tried to talk to us after we found out about them" she said with a laugh

"I remember that! You sucker punched him and your arm broke the window!" he replied with a laugh.

A few pages later, they came across the section from when they were going out. Ria had pasted pictures of them from Christmas, New Year's, and prom. Ryan saw them and thought about the best time of his life. "Hey Ria…I know it's not really the best time to ask this but do you miss us?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…we broke up because you thought it got too weird but with what's going on now, do you think we could give it another shot?"

Ria sat up in shock, "How can you say that?"

"Come on Ria, you know what I'm talking about! Soon your dad's gonna be gone, we'll be in college, my dad can take care of Glory…what's holding us back?"

Ria slapped her ex-turned-brother, "What the HELL is your problem? Your waiting for my dad to die so you can try to get in my pants? I always knew you were full of shit and this proves it!"

"How am _I _full of shit? You're the one who plastered a fakeass smile at that charade of a wedding and was SOOO happy to have us together, refuse to give it up at prom, then dump me so you could play "wife and mommy!" Why don't you just quit the charade and stop being such a poser!" Ryan said trying to get up from the floor.

Ria pulled him up from the floor by his shirt, "You selfish little dick! I gave everything up so we could try and get a better life here. Why don't you stop thinking with your crotch and try with your brain? You've always hated my dad because you think he's just trying to make your dad sick, you've got a pissy little temper when someone doesn't do what you want. Get over yourself and move on with your life!"

She threw him back on the floor and walked out disgusted.

R&R! I'll be back later with something about the others…they didn't come for nothing!


	15. Out In the Clear

I'm back after a hiatus! Yayy! Okay so I dunno where this story is going to go so it might end soon. This is sped up to a month later so Roger is a little sicker now.

A month later, Ria was still working on her book for Glory. Each of the kids wrote a blurb on their own pages and took pictures while they were there. She and Ryan were still on bad terms, which was difficult since they were both expected to keep the kids in line. Roger was getting weaker and was usually confined to bed. None of the kids were getting any sleep since someone had to stay up to make sure Glory didn't see anything too bad.

One day when Roger felt a little better, Mark got him and the kids together to go over some legal things with Joanne. She got out a legal notebook and some other documents and sat at the table with the other four. "Okay so we need to settle the matter of custody for Glory" she said "From what it looks like, Ria is the one who could receive custody since Roger's name is the one on the documents from New York and she's his immediate family. But I would advise that Mark and Ryan take her since Ria's planning to go to Arizona State…"

Ria leapt from her seat, "You can't be serious! These two barely talk to her, _I _should get custody!"

"Honey you know that you couldn't balance school, dancing, and Glory all at once" Roger wheezed. "I've seen you try to everything here and you're running yourself down. You really need to concentrate if you want to pursue dancing later."

"_Papi_ you don't know what I know. If she's left with…._them_, Ryan is just gonna regret her everyday. He said so himself, when he tried to hit on me again, if she's left with those two she'll be miserable!" Ria screamed

"Ria, Glory will be just fine. If you keep this up, you might get worse. I've seen you recently and I can tell you haven't been well. If you just listen to your dad and go to college, you could concentrate and maybe make a better life for yourself." Mark tried to reason " You've got to realize that before…"

"Before what?"

Mark realized what he had just said, "Before….you miss out…." Ria knew what he meant, "You mean before I die like my mom did and my dad is right now."

"Ria you know I didn't mean…"

" No, that's what you said last time when you found out about us. You just think my dad and I are walking time bombs. Just wait for us to die so you two can benefit from it! It was like you two woke up and said "Hey let's take advantage of our AIDS infected buddies, "marry" them and when they keel over, we'll be set!"

Roger turned to his daughter with a knowing yet suspicious look on his face, "Ria what are talking about?"

"Don't play _estupido_ with me _papi_! I know about the royalties from your single. We didn't use them because you didn't want to sell out, so you kept them hidden and only used a little bit. You and _mami_ knew about them but didn't use them so we lived in God-awful hell for years. I remember that time when I was eleven and _mami_ got sick. You wrote out your will and said how much you were gonna leave me and what was gonna be donated. I never let you know that I found out because I thought you'd be mad at me for sneaking around. I know Mark knew about this, he had to have known. Why else would they agree to live like this? And since you have Glory she's gonna be in the will, I'll die like these morons predicted and they'll get it all since Glory's a minor! You never think anything out, you just live in your stupid rock-and-roll, smack filled, hazy world like you ALWAYS HAVE!"

Joanne sat there and watched this play out, She could see that something wasn't right. "Ria honey, you need to calm down because…"

"I'm NOT gonna calm down! No one else is thinking straight! I can't take this…I just can't" she said before taking off. Just then Roger started coughing and throwing up blood. "

"Guys, get him to the couch and get Jason in here." Joanne said "This doesn't look good."

Okay, this is about to wind down to the end. I'm gonna end this before it gets even weirder since this is nothing like how I planned this. R&R!


End file.
